Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Caerphilly Castle was a member of the Great Western Railway / British Railways class of steam locomotives built in the Swindon Works in 1923. Designed for speed, the Castle Class became the most powerful express passenger steam locomotives in the UK and for a few years between 1929 and 1935 held the title of "the worlds fastest steam train in regular service". 171 of the class were built between 1923 and 1950. Caerphilly Castle completed 1,910,730 miles before it was withdrawn from service in May 1960.

I found Caerphilly Castle on display in 2013 during a visit to the Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon (also known as Swindon Steam Railway Museum), which was located in a part of the original Swindon railway workshops.

Caerphilly Castle has two inside cylinders and two outside cylinders each with a diameter of 16 inches (406mm) and 26 inch (660 mm) stroke.

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Driving wheel diameter is 6ft 8.5 in (2.045 m) Gauge is 4ft 8.5 in (1,433 mm) Standard Gauge.

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View from underneath. With two cylinders, connecting rods and associated valve gear there is not a lot of room between the frames under the boiler. A fitters nightmare.

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Valve gear: Inside cylinders - Walschaerts, Outside cylinders - derived from inside cylinders via rocking bars.s

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Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Thanks Longshadow. I hit send prematurely and returned to add a couple more photos since your reply. Regards TD.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Nice Series!

Some Additional info:
Charles Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer at Swindon Works 1922 - 1941, designed the Castle Class of locomotive. He based the designs for the Castle Class locos on the earlier Star Class.

In 1922, Castle locos were Britain’s most powerful express passenger loco. Castle Class locos had larger boilers, and were designed to pull heavier loads.

Between 1923 and 1950, the GWR built 155 Castle locos at Swindon Works. A further sixteen were converted from other classes. On the 23rd August 1923, Caerphilly Castle was the first Castle Class loco to go into service.

Castle Class locos were used on the express route between London Paddington and Cheltenham Spa. The Cheltenham Spa Express was a record breaker. In June 1923, it took just 75 minutes to travel from Swindon to Paddington, at an average speed of 61.8 miles per hour.

In July 1929, it became the world’s fastest train when it achieved an average speed of 66.2mph. On June 6th 1932, the Cheltenham Flyer smashed its own speed record, reaching an average speed of 81.6mph.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/steammuseum/photos/a.179831388715917/3527367020628987/?type=3

Mike D. Loc: Crowley County, CO.

Thanks for sharing and the backtsory TD, this was a nice set. Thank you to JD for the additional information.

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Thank you for your encouraging comment and additional information JD750.

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Thank you for your comments Mike D.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

llamb Loc: Northeast Ohio

I like the ladder in picture #1, it gives a reference to the size of the drive wheels.

~Lee

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Good point Lee.

flathead27ford Loc: Colorado, North of Greeley

👍👍👍

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Thanks for the acknowledgement flathead27ford.

ft Loc: New York, USA

Nice series! Thank you.

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Thank you for the feedback ft.

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

I have enjoyed viewing and reviewing these images!!!
I'm fascinated by the same-size double cylinders and the valve gearing.
I wish I was there to study all this stuff.
Were you able to get under the locomotive for the beneath shots?
Thanks again for this post!!
Pat